Studio Update: November 8

Every night this week, I've texted Anna: "I AM GOING TO FINISH THE DRESSAGE SET."

Then I would promptly not finish the dressage set.

I sat myself down in my chair this morning with a huge mug of coffee and a determination to knock out a snaffle bridle.

And it's finally done! 

I've been experimenting with new ways of achieving the raised noseband/browband look. For a while I've just been attaching rolled strips of leather to the tops of the regular flat straps, but I think I like this new look better. It's based on Braymere's Tack Tip, with 26 gauge wire substituted for the thread she uses. The wire is flexible, but for the most part stays pretty stiffly in place for a nice close fit to that particular horse's head. (Side note: this mold has such a square forehead, there are actually angles in the browband!)

I'm bummed that the trees behind my picture taking spot (the railing on my front porch, just like the pros) aren't turning pretty fall colors. Here in the northwest we have a lot of stubborn evergreens, but the deciduous' are showing their colors beautifully in some areas. Or at least they were, until a recent wind storm stripped all the pretty leaves away:

All these naked trees (combined with the flood of holiday catalogs clogging the mail) are making me long for winter! I already have a few tack-related elf shenanigans in the making...

...But for now, it's time to just sip apple cider and appreciate the current season.

The stock halter also finally got a matching lead today, and is officially ready to ship off to a new home. I have a ton of stuff headed to the PO this week, which is always a great feeling, but getting stuff off my desk only makes me wish for more projects! I'm in a bit of a lull between commissions, and I have a super long weekend to kill... consider this your warning that another sale set might just happen to pop into existence before Wednesday.

I'll keep you posted!